Can-opener.



H. C. PRIVETT.

CAN OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJB, 1915.

11,214,823. Patented Feb. 6,1917. I

ran snares Parana carton.

HENRY CLAUDE PRIVETT, OF LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR '10 PACIFIC CANNING MACHINERY COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

CAN-OPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

FatentedFeb.6,1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY CLAUDE PRIV- ETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Long Beach, in the county ofLos Angeles, State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Can-Openers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to improvements upon my invention entitled can opener described in my application Serial No. 141,677, filed March 16th, 1915; and the particulars of improvements herein described relate to (1) the particular form and make up of opener and its attachment to the can, and (2) the mode of attachment with reference to the position of the opener upon the can. I

In my former application, above identified, I have shown and described an opener which is formed in the shape of a fish and which lies on or against the end of a can, being attached either at one or both ends to the peripheral end bead of the can. I now prefer to attach the opener exclusively at one end to the peripheral or outer bead of the can, allowing the other end to be unattached, both for convenience in placing the opener upon the can and of removing the opener therefrom, and also for convenience in forming the body of the opener into suitable shape for acting eificiently as a can opener. Also, whereas in said former application I describe the opener as being mounted upon the end of the can, I also describe herein a position of the opener on the side of the can; so that it will be apparent that my opener may be placed in any such position where it may be attached to the can in the manner set forth.

The various details of my present improvement will be best understood from the following description of a preferred form of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which, for the purpose of this specification, specific preferred forms of the invention are shown, and in which drawing,

Figure 1 is a plan showing one form of my can opener attached to an end of the can,

Fig. 2 is a section taken as indicated by line 2-2 on Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the parts shown in Fig. 2.

In the drawings the numeral 10 designates a can of any usual configuration having a peripheral end bead to which I attach my can opener 12. (I do not show the interior structure of the bead.) The can opener, in this particular case, is preferably formed in the shape of a fish. My preferred form is shown in Fig. .1 where the outline of the opener resembles the outline of a fish.

As hereinbefore stated, I prefer to attach my can opener exclusively at one end to the peripheral endbead, or to any other bead, of the can; and in the form now shown Iprovide a pair of hook shaped end portions 15 each of which is adapted to resiliently fit around the bead 11 of the can in the manner shown best in Fig. 3. The hook portions 15 are so shaped and so pressed into engagement around the bead that, by a slight lifting on the opposite end of the opener, the hook shaped portions may be loosened and the opener may be removed from the can; and yet the engagement 0% the hook shaped portions with the can is such as to hold the opener tightly enough on the can to prevent its being accidentally removed. It will be noted that the portion 15 is so shaped that it grips around the bead, engaging at the points 15 and 15,

as best shown in F ig.3. The portion 15 is resilient so that the points 15 and 15 may be slipped over the bead 11 to the position shown, pressing oppositely at the interior corner and the outer lower edge of the bead. This provides for easy and secure fastening of the can opener and at the same time for easy removal.

The openers are made of flat metal, preferably sheet metal,'and, when applied to the bead of the can, lie flatly on the end of the can beneath the rim of the peripheral end piece thereof, so that packing of the cans is not in any sense interfered with. Also it will be noted that the opener may be used to hold down any loose piece of advertising matter which may be placed upon the end of the can, such as a circle of paper bearing advertisement, directions, or any suitable matter.

It will be noted that the,two hooked portions 15 are spaced apart from each other transversely to the length of the opener, so that they hook about the bead at points somewhat removed from each other. This is one of the specific improvements of my present invention, as compared with the single hooked portions shown in my previous construction. The advantages of the double hooked engaging portions are primarily that they afford means for engaging the bead at points relatively widely separated, and thus afford a stable fastening base for the opener; and in doing this they have a very distinct advantage over a single hooked engaging portion of corresponding width in that the single hooked portion, when formed on the curvature necessary to engage the head of the can, would be very stiff and would not only require a great pressure in order to form it closely to the can but would also require exertion of too great a pressure in order to remove the opener from the can. Other improvements are also shown in the drawings. In the form shown in Fig. 1, at

the point near the hooked shaped fastening devices where the width of the body of the opener is restricted to form a simulation of a fishs tail, I provide a reinforcing rib 16 which is formed, as shown in Fig. 1, by raising or embossing the metal of the body into the elongated curved rib as shown. This construction strengthens the body at its weakest point'and also at that point which is usually grasped by the fingers when the can opener is put into actual use to open the can. At the opposite end of the opener there is a deep notch 17 which simulates a fish mouth; and the metal on one sideof this notch is formed into a cutting edge 18. The metal at the other side of the notch is offset as illustrated at 19, and a laterally projecting lip 20 is formed at the end of this offset portion 19; the construction being such that the lip 20 lies approximately centrally on the plane of the cutting edge 18; so that when.

the cutteris put into use, the lip 20 presents end, attaching means at the opposite end of' the body for fastening the device to the peripheral bead of a can, said means comprising spaced hook-shaped resilient portions arranged transversely of the body adapted for removable engagement with the bead of a can whereby the body of the opener is positioned flatly engaging the adjacent portion of the can when normally'arranged, the said body having a struck-up longitudinal reinforcing rib interme-liate its ends.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 20 day of August, 1915.

' HENRY CLAUDE PRIVETT.

Witnesses: r

ROLAND G. SWAFFIELD, P. L Hm. 

